TraceHanzi

病 meaning in English

bìng

illness; disease

HSK 1nounverb10 strokes

Meaning of 病

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

bìng
  1. illness
  2. disease
  3. to fall ill
  4. defect

Measure word: 場|场

How to use 病

病 is used as a noun for an illness and as a verb meaning to be sick, but in everyday speech people usually say 生病 (shēngbìng) for "to get sick." Example: 我病了，今天不去上班。(Wǒ bìng le, jīntiān bú qù shàngbān.) I'm sick, so I'm not going to work today.

病 (bìng) sits under the sickness radical 疒, which looks like a bed with a person leaning on it. Inside is 丙 (bǐng), which gives the sound, so picture someone stuck in bed saying "bǐng" because they are ill.

Common mistake: Learners often say 我是病 to mean "I am sick," but 是 is wrong here. Say 我病了 (wǒ bìng le) or 我生病了 (wǒ shēngbìng le). Also do not confuse 病 (bìng) with 并 (bìng, "and; actually"), which has the same sound but a different meaning.

病 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ将jiāng是shì你nǐ的de第dì一yí个gè病bìng人rén。
I'll be your first patient.
因yīn为wèi他tā生shēng病bìng了le，所suǒ以yǐ他tā不bù能néng来lái。
Because he's sick, he can't come.
她tā已yǐ经jīng病bìng了le三sān个gè星xīng期qī了le。
She has been sick for three weeks.
玛mǎ丽lì不bú是shì真zhēn病bìng。她tā只zhǐ是shì装zhuāng病bìng。
Mary isn't really sick. She's faking it.
一yī开kāi始shǐ，我wǒ以yǐ为wéi我wǒ病bìng了le。
At first, I thought I was sick.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

病 bìng · illness · 10 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10

Related words

Words that share a character with 病.

病人bìngrénsick person; patient
生病shēngbìngto fall ill
看病kànbìngto visit a doctor; to see a patient
毛病máobìngfault; defect
病毒bìngdúvirus
疾病jíbìngdisease; sickness; ailment
心脏病xīnzàngbìngheart disease
病房bìngfángward (of a hospital); sickroom
病情bìngqíngstate of an illness; patient's condition
治病zhì bìngto treat an illness
发病fābìng(of an illness) to occur; (of a person) to get sick; to fall ill
精神病jīngshénbìngmental disorder; psychosis

Questions about 病

What does 病 mean?

病 (bìng) means "illness; disease" and is used as a noun and verb.

How do you write 病?

病 is made of 1 character: 病 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 病 an HSK word?

Yes. 病 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What does 看病 mean, and who is doing the seeing?

看病 (kànbìng) works both ways. A patient can say 我去医院看病 (I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor), and a doctor can also 看病 when examining patients. Context tells you who is meant.

Can 病 describe things that are not about health?

Yes. In 毛病 (máobìng), it means a fault or defect, as in 我的电脑有毛病 (My computer has a problem). 毛病 can also mean a bad habit in a person.

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